Latest News
British Bookmakers Set to Make Record Contribution for Rights to Show Horse Racing
British bookmakers are on track to make a record contribution to horse racing next year – with the bill for media rights forecast to increase by nearly £30m.
The Betting and Gaming Council’s five biggest members for horse race betting, Entain, Flutter, bet365, 888/William Hill and Betfred, expect to see a record cost increase to broadcast races.
In 2022, BGC members paid £270.1m for the rights to live stream races for customers and show them in bookmakers.
But that cost is forecast to rise to £285.3m this year, an increase of 5.6%, with members estimating a further increase to £315.2m in 2024, a further bump of 10.5%.
The combined increase for media rights costs is now expected to rise by 16.7% between 2022 and 2024.
The figures are based on data supplied by the Betting and Gaming Council’s five biggest members for horse race betting, then adjusted to include smaller operators, who must also pay for media rights.
Michael Dugher, CEO of Betting and Gaming Council, said: “BGC members are already making a record contribution to horse racing and these figures show that is only going to increase.
“This comes despite a reduction in betting turnover on racing in the last five years and a worrying decline in participation in horse race betting overall.
“Horse racing remains a hugely important, world-leading sport, enjoyed by millions of fans and like the betting industry it continues to support large numbers of jobs.
“I know racing is trying to modernise and reach out to new fans, while also trying to bounce back from the Covid pandemic and deal with some difficult economic headwinds, plus deal with the hit on its funding caused by the Government. The betting industry is dealing with many of the same pressures on our revenues and costs.
“The BGC and our members remain fully committed to working together with the leadership of the sport, including the BHA and others, to ensure a better future for racing. But the fact that we are making a record and growing contribution to the sport cannot be ignored.”
The forecast costs come after the BGC announced their members directly contributed £384m to British horse racing last year in levy, media rights and sponsorship deals.
These figures showed an increase on previous estimates for the regulated sector’s contribution, which had placed it at around £350m a year.
In addition, bookmakers spent £125m on marketing to promote racing and betting through advertisements and partnerships, which helps secure vital terrestrial coverage of the sport and raise revenue for print newspaper titles.
As well as the increased costs for media rights, levy payments are projected to be £99m in 2022/2023, according to the Horserace Betting Levy Board.
This record investment also enabled horse racing to use some of these revenues to deliver record prize money of £179.3m in 2022.
Horse racing is the second biggest sport in the UK, second only to football, with more than five million people attending around 1400 fixtures annually across 59 racecourses.
However, its popularity is in decline. In 2007, 17% of the population participated in horse race betting in the previous year, but that fell to 10% in 2018.
Meanwhile football overtook horse racing betting around the same time between 2017/2018.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has committed to reviewing the Horseracing Levy by next year.
The Horseracing Levy, which is administered by the Horserace Betting Levy Board, goes towards improving the sport, breeding and boosting veterinary care.
Betting operators are working closely with the British Horseracing Authority and racing stakeholders on much needed reforms to the fixture list and race programme which should increase commercial returns from the levy and media rights.
The regulated betting industry fully supports this once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernise horse racing so it can realise its full commercial potential.
The BGC is also working closely with the government on the proposed reforms from the White Paper to ensure those who enjoy betting can continue to do so without unnecessary intrusion, while introducing improved safeguards for the minority who struggle.
Betting shops currently support around 42,000 jobs, contribute £1bn a year in tax to the Treasury and another £60m in business rates to local councils.
The wider regulated betting and gaming industry contributes £7.1bn to the economy, generates £4.2bn in tax and supports 110,000 jobs.
In April DCMS unveiled the Government’s new White Paper on gambling reform, including a number of key measures the BGC had campaigned for.
Those included a new mandatory Ombudsman for the regulated sector, enhanced spending checks online and a new mandatory levy to fund research, education and treatment to tackle gambling related harm and problem gambling.
Each month in Great Britain around 22.5m adults have a bet and the most recent Health Survey for England estimated that 0.4% of the adult population are problem gamblers.
Meanwhile the unsafe, unregulated gambling black market online is growing in the UK, with the numbers betting on these sites doubling in recent years, and the amount staked in the billions.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
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New Follow Player feature lets fans track their favourite basketball and ice hockey players with real-time notifications, including NBA and NHL
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The NBA competition page received over 1.1 billion opens last season alone, demonstrating the market appetite for more detailed match statistics fans want to access
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This follows the launch of the platform across football in September, activated by 1.3 million fans so far
Flashscore, the world’s most popular live scores and sports news app, has expanded its Follow Player functionality to basketball and ice hockey, allowing users to get real-time updates on their favourite basketball and ice hockey stars in the NBA, NHL and other leagues.
The launch follows the success of the feature for global football fans, launched in September. Within two months of being launched, 1.3 million fans are actively using Follow Player for football, averaging five players each, resulting in around 6.5 million player favourites.
The enhancement allows Flashscore’s 100 million-plus monthly users to add up to 100 of their favourite players to receive personalised notifications. Updates include alerts on whether a player is in the starting lineup, their in-game stats like goals and assists, and post-match performance ratings.
The expansion comes as Flashscore data reveals huge user engagement with the NBA and NHL during the 2024-25 season. In the last NBA season, there were more than 1.1 billion match detail opens across 1,316 games, with an average of around 320,000 users per match.
The most-followed team was the Los Angeles Lakers, attracting an average of 515,000 users to their games. In ice hockey and the NHL, last season saw more than 783 million match detail opens across 1,420 games. The Washington Capitals were the most popular team, with an average of 390,000 users per game.
Company data shows basketball and ice hockey are among the most popular sports with Flashscore users, beyond only football and tennis.
Tomáš Pondělík, Chief Product Officer at Flashscore, said: “Following the hugely successful launch of Follow Player for our football fans, expansion to Basketball and Ice Hockey is the next logical step. Fandom is evolving, and we’re seeing a significant shift from fans, especially with the younger generation, following only their favourite teams to a deeper interest in individual players. We see the same trend in basketball and hockey, where superstars often have a global following that transcends team loyalties. Being able to offer our users the chance to follow real-time updates from their favourite football, basketball and ice hockey stars sets Flashscore apart from other live scores apps.
“Our community has been asking for this feature, and the data shows a clear appetite for in-depth information. With Follow Player now available for basketball and ice hockey, fans can track their heroes in real time with the fast, non-intrusive notifications they expect from us. We’re already working on adding more meaningful player data to give fans a richer understanding of performance, and this is just the beginning.”
The post Flashscore expands Follow Player feature to basketball and ice hockey NBA and NHL stars appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
BetNation
Kambi Group plc agrees Turnkey Sportsbook partnership with Dutch online operator Betnation
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Multi-year agreement will see the home of premium sports betting solutions deliver its market-leading online sportsbook to Betnation in the regulated Netherlands market
Kambi Group plc (“Kambi”), the home of premium sports betting solutions, has agreed a multi-year partnership with Dutch online operator Betnation to deliver its comprehensive Turnkey Sportsbook solution in the regulated Netherlands market.
Under the terms of the partnership, Kambi will power Betnation’s online sportsbook offering with its award-winning end-to-end sportsbook technology and services, including robust betting engine, advanced trading and risk management capabilities and regulatory compliance expertise.
Having successfully operated an online casino in the Netherlands since October 2022, Betnation will leverage Kambi’s proven turnkey capabilities to expand its presence in the online sports betting vertical.
With more than 50 partners globally, Kambi’s Turnkey Sportsbook has become the sportsbook of choice for operators in regulated markets — combining global scale, cutting-edge technology and flexibility to drive growth, ensure stability and deliver market-leading performance. Kambi’s Turnkey Sportsbook also offers an extensive range of operator empowerment tools, including price differentiation and player engagement solutions, which enable partners to stand out in competitive markets and deliver a unique sportsbook experience for their players.
Werner Becher, CEO of Kambi, said: “We are delighted to agree this partnership with Betnation as we strengthen our position as the sportsbook partner of choice for operators in regulated betting markets. As Betnation embarks on its next phase of growth, Kambi’s Turnkey Sportsbook solution offers the flexibility, scalability and performance needed to compete in highly competitive markets like the Netherlands, and we look forward to supporting our new partner’s success.”
Robert Schouten, CEO of Betnation, added: “Kambi’s reputation for excellence, cutting-edge technology and a commitment to regulated markets made them the natural choice as our new sportsbook provider. Their technology and expertise will enable us to provide our customers with a premium betting experience that matches the high standards they already expect from our online casino product.”
The post Kambi Group plc agrees Turnkey Sportsbook partnership with Dutch online operator Betnation appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
BC.GAME has released Tim & Larry, a new in-house developed slot combining traditional video slot mechanics with a cartoon-inspired theme centered around a kitchen standoff between a cat and a mouse. The game features high volatility, a theoretical RTP of 96.91%, and a capped maximum payout of 15,000× the base bet.
The base game operates on a five-reel layout set inside an animated fridge. Special features include two types of expanding wild symbols:
Food Duel wilds expand to cover full reels and reveal one of two randomly drawn multipliers (up to 200×), which are additive when multiple wilds participate in the same win line.
Tim’s Presents symbols also expand, trigger between 1 and 6 random wilds across the board, and apply a multiplier to wins in which they’re involved.
Only one special symbol type can appear per spin (Food Duel, Tim’s Presents, or Bonus Scatter), making each event discrete and easier to track during gameplay.
The game includes a progress mechanic linked to Tim’s Presents. Each piece of cheese dropped adds one point to a meter; once it reaches 25 points, players receive a Tasty Spin, in which all symbols are replaced with fixed-value cash symbols ranging from 0.2× to 500× the bet.
Cheese collected beyond the 25-point threshold carries over to the next cycle. Meters are tracked independently for each bet level.
Two Bonus Modes with Distinct Paths
The game includes two Free Spins modes, each unlocked by a different number of Bonus Scatter symbols:
Diner Fight (3 Scatters): Features elevated rates of Food Duel and Tim’s Presents, with progression unlocking higher-value Tasty Spins.
BBQ Mayhem (4 Scatters): Focuses on collecting cheese-born wilds to unlock stages with guaranteed Food Duel spins (up to 5), offering more burst-style potential.
Each mode provides a clear structure, allowing players to choose between gradual buildup or concentrated payout rounds.
Tim & Larry is now live across the BC.GAME platform and available for all supported jurisdictions. Players are advised to review game rules and volatility details before engaging with high-risk features such as Max Win Shot.
The post BC.GAME Releases “Tim & Larry” appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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